The Scottish Government has announced that organisations applying for public sector grants will need to pay at least the real living wage and provide channels for staff to have a say in the workplace from July 2023.

The condition applies to organisations receiving grants from the Scottish Government, enterprise agencies, and public bodies. Exceptions may only be applied to emergency funding and where an organisation is heavily dependent on grant funding and paying the real Living Wage would threaten its survival.

The new requirements form part of the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party Parliamentary Group Bute House Agreement.

The requirement for organisations to pay the real Living Wage and give workers an effective voice in order to receive public sector grants will be introduced on 1 July 2023: The conditionality will be introduced for eligible agriculture grants from 1 April 2024 following Ministerial consultation.

Exceptions to the requirement, along with compliance and monitoring measures, will be set out in the Fair Work First Guidance and relevant grant policy guidance.

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